Easter: Our Season Opener

This is one of my favorite rides in #BayAreaMotoCulture. If this post doesn’t convince you to get up early to join us in 2025, take a look at former years!

Easter has always been a bit of a strange holiday for me as an adult. Of course, as a kid, Easter is filled with egg hunts and a basket full of candy on Sunday morning. As an adult without children, I wandered to find Easter traditions that made sense for me.

As a holiday, the Catholic Church Easter is a “movable feast,” meaning that the date changes year to year. Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the spring equinox. Easter occurs relatively early this year, providing for a much earlier sunrise. In 2025, Easter occurs on April 20 when the sun rises a half-hour earlier.

I go to bed significantly earlier the night before the ride. This year, I went to bed at 9 o’clock two nights before and 8 the night before. I tossed and turned, anticipating and fearing that I would sleep through the ride. I’ve done quite a bit of promotion to just about everybody that I knew who rode a motorcycle. The last thing I wanted to do was sleep in and miss the whole event! LOL.

I arose at 3:30 A.M. and started to get into gear. I usually turn the heat off overnight to save energy, and this morning the house was none other than 60°. Easter earlier in the year also means it’s colder in the morning. Looking outside, I could see the clouds dotting the sky and 45° on the thermometer. The heated vest would certainly be coming along with the camera and a tall carafe of hot water for tea.

I rolled the motorcycle out just before 4:30 AM and could feel the chill on my face as the night’s cold air enveloped my body. All was quiet around me. In many ways, it shared the stillness of Christmas night when everyone was tucked into bed, awaiting Santa’s arrival. A simple press of the starter brought the motorcycle roaring to life. Silly me also hit the horn loudly, proclaiming my departure to the neighborhood. Oops!

I hopped on the bike, slowly left the neighborhood, and made my way towards the freeway. The chilly air tried to permeate my suit, but the heated vest was coming to life, keeping my core warm. The freeway was quiet. A couple of cars here and there dotted the landscape, and traffic was nonexistent. The road surface had damp patches as a reminder of yesterday’s storm. Rain is the ultimate killjoy for this ride, so we all were all looking to ensure the skies were clear. The best the weather could give us was “mostly cloudy” but promised a dry morning. I wasn’t sure if I’d even see the sun poking through the horizon. Whatever, I’m doing this.

Rounding the corner into Oakland, the fog started to drip onto my helmet. I hoped this wasn’t rain but rather a meteorological teaser to keep things interesting. I hadn’t seen any motorcycles yet, which was surprising. As I approached the Richmond San Rafael bridge, I couldn’t help but think about the disaster in Baltimore. If a container ship hits this bridge, would the changeable message signs on either side be enough to stop traffic? Would the changeable lane control signals on the eastern span be enough to stop cars going in that direction? Each bridge I’ve crossed, I’ve asked the question, “How would I know not to cross this bridge?”.

On the entire ride to Mill Valley, I saw only three motorcycles. In all the years I’ve done this ride, that’s the lowest number of motorcycles I’ve seen on the route here. As luck would have it, at the freeway off-ramp red light, I saw the entire San Francisco Motorcycle Club roll by. It was definitely a sight to see!

We were all packed in at Mill Valley Arco (now HQ fuels) at 5:30 AM on Easter Sunday morning, waiting for the call to climb the mountain.

There’s nothing like hearing the collective roar of 200 motorcycles starting up in the quiet of the night. It was time to ride! My GPS wasn’t set, so I didn’t necessarily have a completely measured approach for this ride like I’d had in years past. I followed the person ahead of me, watching the the congo line of motorcycles snake through the Marin County hills. We ducked through deep redwood forests and climbed to beautiful vistas – none of which we could see as we were surrounded by the dark night.

The entire ride centers around the phases of dawn. I’m riding to the ride during the deep night and astronomical dawn. We collectively ride to the top of Mount Tamalpais during nautical dawn. And finally, we climbed to the top of Mount Tamalpais during civil dawn, awaiting sunrise.

Every year, the climb to the top of Mount Tamalpais gets harder. It must be because the mountain is growing taller and steeper year-over-year versus me getting older and heavier, lol. The chilly morning air was balanced between invigorating and just cold. I was glad I brought my eye college fuzzy ski hat to keep warm.

0.3 miles and 300-foot climb. Go, Go, Go! There is a sun to catch!

I’m still reminded of how easy iPhone photography really is and how relatively hard SLR camera photography remains. The above pictures are from the SLR camera and the two below pictures come from the iPhone. The SLR camera has generously sized lenses that take in copious amounts of light. The iPhone, in stark contrast, has tiny lenses that do a fantastic job of capturing color and detail. If only Apple made SLR cameras…

After the sun rises, we all collectively wander around the East Peak parking lot, ogling at each other’s motorcycles. Every year, it’s fun to see which bikes capture my attention and eventually find a place in my own motorcycling history. The Triumph Speed Triple has always been a favorite of mine after the Coast and Volcanoes ride about 15 years ago. The bright yellow Triumph certainly speaks for itself.

I also always like finding bikes loaded with stickers, which is typical with travelers who take their bikes to far-off places and distant lands. I couldn’t help but laugh at “ride motorcycles, eat ice cream.” Well played!

As I was gathering my things and getting ready for departure, another rider walked up to me and said, “Are you Dashed Yellow Line?” I replied, “Why yes!” He continued, “I was reading your blog and wanted to say hello.” John, thank you. You made my year at “I was reading your blog…”!

When I was younger, I was convinced I had all the answers about religion from the conservative Baptist church. As time and God’s humor would tell me throughout life, I didn’t nearly have the answers I thought I did in my teens.

What have I learned this year? Jesus definitely rode a motorcycle and came to San Francisco to join us on this truly fantastic tradition!

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